


Not Even Coffee Can Wash Away The Taste You Leave In My Mouth

by toonlink



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, First Dates, First Kiss, Fluff, Love at First Sight, M/M, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-09
Updated: 2018-09-22
Packaged: 2019-07-10 06:44:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15943910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toonlink/pseuds/toonlink
Summary: Ash is a college student who works part time as a barista. One day he gets an email from his manager informing him that a journalist is writing a column about the local coffee shops. That journalist turns out to be rather cute.Alternative: The anime had me suffer so much that I needed to write something light hearted and cute to cope





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> so this was super fun to write !!  
> please note that i am just a simple girl from europe who has no idea how the american college system works so im sorry if i got something blatantly wrong.  
> the teen and up rating is for language only. this work has not been beta read!  
> special thank you goes to my amazing friend @pixihawk, who came up with the title!!

It had been a busy day in the Banana Fish café. People were even queueing up to the door to get their stupid coffee to go’s and really, who were those people? Who had the time to wait twenty _fucking_ minutes for a $5 cup of that was basically liquid sugar with caffeine mixed in? Wasn’t the whole damn point of a coffee to go to be like - a quick thing, anyway? Like, on the go? Ash had no idea what was wrong with people. What he did know was that this Barista job helped to pay his tuition fees and that according to his manager Max, he wasn’t even half bad at it. At the coffee making that was. The whole dealing with customers thing was something different. So maybe he had gotten a warning for telling a middle aged woman to shove her vanilla macchiato up her ass. But apart from that it was all good. It hadn’t happened again. He had learned to stay quiet and to swallow down his anger. At least for his time at work that was. It was fine. His therapist even said he was making a lot of progress. So there he was - making double vanilla caramel whatever the fuck macchiatos one after the other like a damn machine - until the first wave of customers finally started to calm down and he could finally breathe again. He looked at the clock. It was about time for his break anyway. He poured himself a cup of coffee – black, like a normal person.  
“I’m off for my break.” He told his colleague as he headed outside to get some fresh air. It was nice outside although summer was slowly coming to an end. It was that weird time of the year where you would get cold in the wind and get too hot if you stood in the sun for too long.

The rest of his shift went rather smoothly. The customers were manageable and the colleague that was assigned today didn’t suck at his job like some others. Neither did he get on his nerves with unnecessary small talk. And no customers were asked to shove their drinks up any body holes. Peachy. Nevertheless, Ash was glad when his shift ended. That was until he remembered that he still had an assignment that was due in two days. _Great_.

After walking back to his dorm Ash kicked off his shoes and dropped onto his bed almost immediately. He felt drained. His next shift was already tomorrow, after class. He sighed and grabbed his phone, planning to scroll through his social media mindlessly for the next while to get his mind off of things. A notification on his email app caught his attention.

****

**Hey Ash,**

**A pair of journalists is coming to The Banana Fish tomorrow. They are foreigners who want to write a column about the local coffee shops. This could be a great opportunity for The Banana Fish to get some positive recognition. One of the journalists is around your age. Maybe you can try to get on his good side? I know you can be charming if you want to. His name is Eiji Okumura. You could try looking him up beforehand or something -  maybe you can find stuff to talk about? I don’t know what you young people do; maybe he has an Instagram or something? Anyway, I know you can make the best out of this. Good luck tomorrow, I’m counting on you.**

**-Max**

_What the fuck._

Ash resisted the urge to toss his phone against the nearest wall. Deep breaths. Who did his manager think he was? Why couldn’t he talk to those fucking journalists himself? Ash decided that he did _not_ earn enough for this bullshit.  
After calming himself down a bit he read through the email again. _Eiji Okumura_ huh. He typed the name into Google. The guy really did have an Instagram account. He was Japanese. Dark, fluffy hair. Brown eyes. Well, he looked kinda cute, Ash had to give him that much. There weren’t a lot of posts on his page, a few pictures of a group of friends and a few of the guy doing what looked like pole jumping. So much for looking at his Instagram for information. Ash sighed. What should he do? Talk about pole jumping with the guy? Yeah that wouldn’t be weird at all. Frustrated he turned off the screen and tossed his phone to the other side of his bed. A few seconds later it started buzzing with a text message. Ash rolled his eyes and grabbed his phone. The message was from Shorter.

**Shorter, 1 Minute ago:**

_im heading home, should i get some food? **09:14PM**_

Ash’s stomach started rumbling, like it knew. Sometimes, having Shorter as a roommate was like heaven. For example when he brought Ash food. It made up for his snoring at night. Ash typed a reply immediately.

**Ash, just now:**

_hell yeah! pizza? **09:15PM**_

A purple cloud of hair poked through the door about half an hour later.  Ash got up from the sofa and walked over to his roommate.  
“Thank god you’re here, I’m _starving_.” Ash said dramatically as he already coaxed the two pizza boxes out of his friend’s hand and set them down at their cheap ikea coffee table.  
“What would you even do without me?” Shorter asked as he took off his jacket. They sat down on the sofa together to eat and talked about their days.  
“What does he mean, get on his good side? Isn’t he just supposed to interview you? Bullshit.”  
“Yeah, I don’t know, he will probably just ask me about work and stuff. I think Max just wants me to not be an asshole to him.” Ash shrugged and took another slice of pizza.  
“How’s your paper? Haven’t you been in the library the whole day?”  
“I’m mostly done. I think I will go over it one more time tonight and then send it off. How about you? Let me guess. You haven’t started yet?” Ash nodded. “I will start tonight and then work on it the whole day after work.”

“You’re gonna die.”

 

The next morning, Ash woke up feeling like absolute shit. Because that’s how you feel after trying to write a paper on fucking neurobiology until four in the morning. He turned off his alarm and checked the time. 8AM. Disgusting. Class would start in fifteen minutes. Whose idea had it been to pick 8AM classes anyway? He cursed his past self for being a fucking moron. Shorter was still snoring on the other side of the room. He was lucky that he slept like a damn rock. Ash got up and grabbed a hoodie out of his closet, he wasn’t even sure who it belonged to at this point, but it didn’t matter. He threw on his favorite pair of jeans and went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and splash some water on his face. He looked at his reflection in the mirror. His eyebag game was strong today. He looked like a fucking raccoon. He tried smoothing out his blonde hair a little so that he wouldn’t look too much like he just hopped out of bed. It didn’t work. He arrived for class at 8:14. He fell asleep on his desk at 8:30. So much for that.

When Ash got out of class he went to the campus café to grab himself a big cup of coffee. His shift wouldn’t start until twelve so he still had some time to kill. He decided to put it to use and sat down in the library to continue with his paper. He ended up deleting half of it. Apparently his mind wasn’t of any use after 2AM. What a surprise. He was more awake now, after his nap in class. The caffeine helped too.

 

After working on his paper some more he got back up to get ready for work. He texted Shorter.

**Ash, just now:**

_hey dude, you up?_ _im passing campus café u want anything? **11:01 AM**_

_r u still asleep? **11:03 AM**_

_pls…its almost noon dude **11:05 AM**_

Ash rolled his eyes. As far as he knew Shorter had class in like an hour. Good thing he knew what his friend liked for breakfast. He arrived in their room shortly after, a cream cheese bagel and a large latte macchiato in his hands. Shorter was still asleep in his bed, as suspected. He set the food down at the table and went over to his roommate, gently nudging his shoulder. “Dude, get up. I got you breakfast.”  
Shorter grunted. After some more shaking he finally started to wake up. He sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes. “Mmm… good morning.” He yawned. His eyes darted over to the table. “Oh my god you got me coffee? I fucking love you. You didn’t have to do that.” He got out of bed to sit down at the table, his blanket still wrapped around his shoulders.

“Don’t mention it.” Ash smiled.

Shorter was just finishing the last bite of his bagel when Ash headed to the door in his work uniform.

“See you later.” He waved.

“Good luck at work.” Shorter called through a full mouth.

When Ash arrived at work, that Eiji guy was already waiting for him. He was sitting in one of the café chairs, his phone in his hand, the dark locks of his hair falling down into his face. When the door closed behind Ash with a ringing sound he looked up from his phone and smiled at him shyly. It seemed like he recognized him. Had he looked him up as well? He got up from the chair and walked towards Ash to introduce himself in accented English. “You must be Ash. My name is Eiji Okumura. It’s nice to meet you. I was told that you’d be my interview partner representing Banana Fish. I have to excuse my boss, he couldn’t make it. I hope that’s okay. If you have time right now I would like to ask you a few questions.” Ash looked over to Max who nodded in approval.

 

“Uhm, sure. Let’s go somewhere quiet. Do you want something to drink?”

 

They sat down in the staff room together, a cup of fresh coffee in their hands.

Eiji  placed his phone on the table. “Uhm, is it okay if I record this? It will make stuff a lot easier for me.”

“Yeah it’s no problem.”

“That’s nice. Thank you.” He smiled at Ash and then proceeded to tug a stray strand of hair behind his ear were it stayed for approximately 3 seconds before falling back into his face. He seemed….nervous? How weird. Shouldn’t Ash be the nervous one in this situation?

“So uhm, is this your first time doing an interview?” He blurted out the question without thinking too much about it, regretting it the second it left his mouth.

The other man scratched his neck nervously. “H-haha wow is it that obvious? Yeah, it’s my first time doing it all by myself anyway.” His cheeks looked pink now. Ash caught himself wondering if they would feel warm.

“Is it your first time in the US?” he heard himself ask. Why was he being so damn noisy? That wasn’t like him at all. There was something about the guy that made him want to know more about him. Ash mentally cursed himself for his weakness that made him look like a fool in front of cute boys. So yeah, maybe that Eiji guy was cute with his stupid brown eyes and his stupid soft looking hair and his charming nervous laugh and his pretty long eyelashes. _Get your shit together Ash, just let him ask his damn questions and maybe you can make yourself not look like an idiot anymore and ask for his number later._ That sounded like a plan.

To Ash’s surprise, Eiji didn’t seem to mind his question.

“It’s actually my first time out of Japan. I study Journalism and my boss uhm, he’s actually my uncle a-and I was lucky enough to be able to do my internship at his company.”

So he was actually just an intern in a foreign country? No wonder he was so nervous.

“I see.” Ash smiled at him encouragingly. “Well this will be my first time being interviewed as well, so don’t worry too much. I won’t even be able to tell if you do something wrong.”

“So uhm – do you go to college, too?” Eiji was looking down at his hands. Was this part of the interview already? Ash swallowed. “Yeah, I do. I major in Biology.”

“Oh wow, that sounds interesting. You must be really smart, then.”

Was that a compliment? He shrugged. “Sometimes.”

That caused Eiji to laugh. He had a quiet laugh and he held his hand in front of his mouth as he did it. Being this cute should be illegal.

“I think we should slowly start the interview. I shouldn’t keep you away from work for this long, not that you get into trouble because of me.”

Eiji grabbed his phone and tapped on some things, his brow furrowed in concentration.

“Okay, it’s recording now. Let’s start.”

To Ash’s surprise, Eiji turned out to be quite a talented interviewer. His questions were clear and well thought out. He had a notebook set in front of him on which he would take notes every now and then, as well as crossing off the questions that he had already asked. He seemed really professional, in contrast to the Eiji he had seen in their prior conversation. He seemed less nervous when he was in interview mode. Ash found that talking to him was surprisingly _fun._ How weird. Ash rarely found people fun. The interview went on for quite a while until Eiji finally tapped at his phone again.

“So uhm…we’re finished now. Thank you for your cooperation.”

Ash got up from his chair. “Hey no problem. I would always pick spending my time with cute boys in the staff room over brewing coffee.” He winked. Eiji’s head looked like it was about to explode. Oh god. Ash gulped. Maybe that had been too much. He watched as Eiji took a deep breath.

"H-hey uhm…Ash, do you want to grab a coffee maybe? I mean, you already have a coffee. We're in a café.” He awkwardly gestured to Ash’s cup. “That's stupid I’m sorry uhm, I mean uh.. yeah." He looked down on the ground, his eyes wide.

Ash smiled at him. “I’d love to.” he said. “My shift is over at six. Come pick me up?”

Eiji practically _beamed_ at that. Needless to say, Ash was in a _fantastic_ mood for the rest of his shift.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ash gets lucky and has a date with the cute journalist

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took a while but I'm really happy with how it turned out !! ;v;  
> There's also a third chapter coming, which wasn't originally planned but I didn't really want to finish this story yet? So yeah... I hope you enjoy !! Thanks so much to my friend [pixihawk](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pixihawk) for beta reading this chapter ! <3  
> Happy reading and please tell me what you think!

Ash could see Eiji arriving back at The Banana Fish fifteen minutes before his shift ended. He was waiting outside, his back resting against the wall of the building. Ash would be lying if he said he didn’t almost drop the plate he was currently cleaning when he saw him. Okay, so maybe he was a little excited – what about it? His last date had been quite some time ago and there was something about the guy that just made Ash want to spend his time with him. It also helped that he was hot as fuck. Okay so maybe he wanted to hold his stupid hand and kiss his dumb attractive face. Ash sighed.

He pulled out his phone to text Shorter before he’d forget about it later when he was hopefully busy doing other things.

**Ash, just now:**

hey don’t wait for me tonight k? im not coming home right after my shift  **05:50 PM**

**Shorter, just now:**

oh damn ok? everything all right?   **05:50 PM**

**Ash, just now:**

yeah don’t worry. this is gonna sound weird but remember the journalist guy today?  **05:51 PM**

he kinda asked me out? **05:51 PM**

and i said yes  **05:51 PM**

**Shorter, just now:**

omggggg  **05:52 PM**

have fun lmao  **05:52 PM**

 

The second the clock hit 6PM Ash abandoned the dishes.  They were almost done anyway – someone would take care of it. He dried his hands off on his pants and went to the staff room to gather his things. He looked into the mirror there, only to realize that he still hadn’t brushed his hair today.

God, he was a fucking mess. Yet somehow Eiji still wanted to go out with him. That had to count for something right? Ash fought back a smile. He used his hands to try and fix his hair as best as he could, then took off his name tag and tossed it into his backpack. Quickly he put on the hoodie he had brought so he wouldn’t walk around in his work clothes and headed outside.

There he was greeted with a bright, warm smile. “Hey Ash!” Eiji waved at him.

God, did the guy have any idea how cute he was? At all? You can’t just smile at people like that and expect them to go on with their day. _Fuck._

Mentally fighting the heat that was rising to his cheeks as he smiled back. “Hey.”

 

* * *

 

Their hands brushed together as they walked next to each other, the electricity of it flowing through Ash’s entire body and leaving him with a warm feeling.   
Eiji had asked Ash to show him a little bit of the city which he was more than happy to do.  
They walked through the streets slowly, coming to a stop every now and then, where Ash would point at a building or a spot to tell Eiji a memory he associated with it. It felt… weirdly personal.  
Ash couldn’t remember the last time he had opened up to someone at the day of meeting them -probably because it never happened before.  
At some point during their trip Eiji had blatantly taken his hand from which Ash still hadn’t recovered if he was entirely honest. If he was _really_ honest he was still mentally screaming about it. But Eiji’s hand felt warm and soft in his own so he wasn’t complaining.

They stopped by at one of Ash’s favorite cafés and just sat there, sipping coffee and talking. Ash learned a lot about Eiji that day. He learned how he liked his coffee - overly sweet with a lot of milk but Ash gave him a pass on that because he was cute. He learned that Eiji got scared around dogs , he learned that his favorite ice cream flavor was pistachio and that he had a little sister back home.

Eiji told him about growing up in Japan, about the school he went to. He told him about his hometown and about how different it was to America. Ash listened happily, absorbing his words and enjoying the soft, warm tone of Eiji’s voice. Every now and then he felt his mind wandering off, Eiji’s words a blur in the background as Ash admired the way his hair would fall into his face or how his hands gently wrapped around the coffee mug he was holding.

Ash put his hands on Eiji’s before he could stop himself. His hands just were too damn addicting. He had to stretch his arms over the table a little awkwardly but he didn’t mind. Eiji’s hands felt warm from the hot coffee mug he was holding and Eiji stopped in his words to look up to Ash and smile at him.

Their coffee was long gone but the café was warm and comfortable and sitting there with Eiji was just too good to make Ash want to leave any time soon. One of the baristas was shooting them glances every now and Ash was already mentally getting ready to fucking punch the guy. He then noticed that his glances weren’t directed at their joined hands but at their long empty coffee cups instead. Maybe it was time to leave after all.

Ash had to admit that was not ready for their date being over yet. What else could he show Eiji around here? He leaned over to Eiji a little.

“Hey uhm, I’d like to show you something special but I’m pretty sure it is not a hundred percent legal.”

Ash scratched his neck nervously.

“It’s um, like my favorite spot here I’d say? I haven’t really told anyone about it but it’s where I go to get my mind off things, plus I want to give you the coolest tourist experience. I’m no ordinary tourist guide.” God he probably sounded like an idiot. How was that again with embarrassing himself in front of cute boys? _Get your shit together Ash_.

But Eiji just laughed and squeezed his hand.

“Ash, I’m a journalist. It’s my job to get into spaces where nobody is supposed to go.”

Huh. That thought hadn’t occurred to Ash. Somehow Eiji didn’t seem like someone who would willingly break the law. Guess he had been wrong. He put doing crimes together on his list of acceptable date ideas.

Ash insisted on paying for their coffee and gave the barista a generous tip. He still felt bad for wanting to punch him in the face earlier.

They arrived at the spot a few minutes later. It was on a tall building in one of the less crowded parts of the city and it had been empty for a few years now. Ash didn’t know what happened to the place. It looked like it used to be some sort of restaurant judging from floor plan and the faded signs that were still on there. Wood was covering the bottom windows and the door, making sure that nobody could get inside.

Well unless they really tried that was. At sixteen, Ash had found out that if you climbed the fence right next to it you could easily get into its courtyard. A few angry kicks done by an angsty teenager against the backdoor had been enough to loosen its hinges enough to pass through. Once inside you could climb the stairs until you ended up on the roof, which gave you a beautiful view of the city.  
Ash had come here often, whenever he felt like he needed to be alone for a while or to sort out his thoughts. And now apparently to take cute boys there – _first date ideas: take your date to an abandoned building – romantic._

To Ash’s surprise Eiji had no problems with getting over the fence whatsoever. He climbed with surprising ease and experience (?!) before Ash was even able to offer his help. He made a mental effort to not look too impressed but he probably failed. Eiji just grinned at him. Yeah he totally failed. Inside the building Ash led the way, carefully watching Eiji’s every step until they arrived on the roof safely. Ash took a moment to enjoy the view. The sun had started to set a few minutes ago, painting the sky in beautiful pinks and purples.

He looked over to see Eiji’s reaction. His eyes had widened and he was smiling. He stepped over to the fenced edge of the roof where he rested his hands as he looked over the city. He turned around to face him.

“Ash, it’s really beautiful here. You can see so much of the city! The view is incredible. Thank you for showing me this.” Eiji gave him a bright smile that could melt ice, he was sure of it.

“Thank you for coming with me. This day has been quite amazing.”

The wind blew through Eiji’s dark hair, the light of dawn painting the city in different colors behind him. He looked perfect.

“Fuck it,” Ash thought to himself as he stepped closer and wrapped his hand around Eiji’s neck, pulling him towards him and their lips came crashing together. Eiji gasped in surprise but his hands soon came up to Ash’s waist, holding onto him tightly as he kissed him back. Soon Ash’s hand was in Eiji’s hair and god it felt so _soft_. Their lips parted, leaving room for him to put his tongue into the other’s mouth - which he did. Eiji tasted sweet and amazing and _perfect_ , gasping when Ash’s tongue hit the roof of his mouth, and he was sure he would never be able to forget the way he tasted nor would he ever be able to get enough of it.

They broke apart after what felt like forever, both breathing heavily. Eiji was still holding onto Ash, his hand had slid under his hoodie at some point, now burning hot through the fabric of his shirt.  
Ash could swear he could feel his heart beat in his throat but god he didn’t remember the last time he had felt so alive. His lips were wet and tingling and they almost felt numb but when he looked down towards Eiji, who was meeting his gaze with his perfect brown eyes. He couldn’t help but dive in for yet another kiss, this time slow and sweet. He took his time to explore the wonders of Eiji’s mouth, all while slowly tracing circles on his back with gentle hands.

They continued kissing for a long time, their surroundings long forgotten and the sun long gone behind the horizon when they realized how much time had passed.

                              

“Mmh, I don’t want to say goodbye yet.” Eiji placed a soft kiss on Ash’s lips that was sweet that it made his heart hurt. How was it even possible to fall this hard for someone after just a single day?

Ash noticed that Eiji’s hands had started to feel cold. Without thinking too much about it Ash pulled off his hoodie and handed it to him.  
“Here. I can’t have you miss me too much...also you look cold. Honestly, why are you out in just a t-shirt, are you crazy?” Eiji laughed a little but accepted the offer gratefully. The hoodie was slightly baggy on him and he had to roll up the sleeves but he looked warm and _adorable_. Ash wouldn’t mind seeing him in his clothes more often.

Ash walked him to his subway stop, even though it was in the opposite direction he had to go to. They shared a last soft kiss, sweet and warm and then Eiji got onto the subway, waving and smiling at Ash until the subway disappeared in the tunnel.

                                                                                               

* * *

 

Would it be pathetic to text the guy now, even though they had said goodbye like twenty minutes ago? Ash sighed and pulled out his phone, which to his surprise was already lighting up with a new text message. He couldn’t help but smile when he saw who it was from.

**Eiji, 15 minutes ago:**

I had an amazing time tonight, when can I see you again? <3  **11:03 PM**

**Ash, just now:**

!!! my roommate and i are having a movie night on Friday, if u want u can join? :) **11:20 PM**

i had a great time as well **11:20 PM**

**Eiji, just now:**

That sounds great! I’d love to come if your roommate is okay with that ^.^ **11:22 PM**

**Ash, just now:**

i will ask him! **11:23 PM**

**Eiji, just now:**

Thank you! I’m heading to bed now. Good night, Ash <3 **11:25 PM**

**Ash, just now:**

sleep well eiji :)) <3  **11:26 PM**

 

The door shut behind Ash with a soft click. The room was dark apart from a little bit of light that got through the windows from outside. Shorter wouldn’t even wake up if there was an earthquake but Ash still made an effort to be quiet as he kicked off his shoes  before stripping down to his underwear and crawling into bed. He faintly touched his lips with the tips of his fingers and smiled as the mental image of Eiji popped up in his head.

“So, you got laid tonight I assume? And you didn’t even stay with the guy to cuddle afterwards? I didn’t know you were so cruel Ash.”

“Sh- _Shorter_? What? I thought you were asleep you asshole! God…”  Ash groaned and covered his eyes with the back of his hand.  He just earned a giggle in return.

“Come on Ash, tell me! Was it any good?”  It was dark and he couldn’t see Shorter at all but he would bet good money that the asshole was wiggling his eyebrows suggestively right now. Ash groaned even more. He was glad for the dark when he felt the heat rise to his cheeks. What was he? A seven year old boy with his first crush?

“Shorter! It wasn’t like that – I only met the guy today for god’s sake.”

“So?”

“We just... kissed?”

“And?”

“Okay, maybe we made out a bit.”

“ _And?_ ”

“Okay maybe we made out for an hour or so…and held hands …and maybe I did bring him to his subway stop and kissed him goodbye.”

“Oh my goddddd….do you _like_ him? Do I have to give him the if you hurt Ash I hurt you talk?”

“Nooo…you don’t understand. He’s so sweet and gentle and caring and – “Ash realized what he was saying and stopped talking, embarrassed. He could swear he could _feel_ Shorter’s grin from across the room. He exhaled.

“By the way, do you mind if I bring him over on Friday?”

“Sure Ash, I can’t wait to meet your future husband.”

“ _Shorter!_ ” Ash threw a pillow at him. Sometimes he questioned why he was even friends with him.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I just want my boys to be happy...  
> please tell me what you think!!


End file.
